Hist. settlement with tower houses Zuoz

Zuoz is a well-preserved Engadine village, which derives a special interest from the property of the von Planta family and other patrician homes. Among the partly agricultural and partly conventional buildings, it is surprising to find a medieval tower house integrated here and there in different parts of the village, often extending over four to five floors. The tower houses are covered by four to five layers of plastering from more recent times. In parts where the original surface is exposed, they reveal layers of coursed rubble masonry with pietra rasa plaster and lined joints. Under the cubic projections, standing out from the façades, are the old log buildings which enclose the parlour and the bedroom lying above. These constructions with their timber ceilings may date back as far as the 16th century, the style deriving from the north. The vaulting technique used in the barrel and groined vaults in the kitchen and pantry, named “cha da fö” and “chamineda” in Romansh, in contrast, originates from the south, from Italy.

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